Going to the zoo
     "The zoo" is what most CES attendees call the Las Vegas Convention Center, and for reasons that are obvious when you see it. It's a vast, wild free-for-all, perhaps a jungle as much as a zoo.
     There is lots of fun stuff at the zoo, but there are a few major high end companies here too, though fewer than before. The promotional measures vary. The robot at left (a real robot, by the way, not someone in a metal suit) was there to promote... Ah, who knows? It wasn’t anything we want to write about. As for the inflatable dog...but don’t get us started.
     We got a look at the new Azur series from Cambridge, an upmarket line that is a departure for what has always been an entry-level line, albeit a very good one. The two CD players now use Sony optics, but mechanicals of its own design. There is also a DVD player, a preamp processor, and more. The familiar Classic line, by the way, will continue in production.
     One company we hadn’t seen in a while is Plateau, a maker of speaker and equipment stands. Once a division of the Camber-Plateau speaker maker in Montreal, it became a freestanding company when Camber (the speaker braand) collapsed about a decade ago. It now has an impressive catalog of models, in styles both utilitarian and modern.
     We got a look at the Bryston display, where there wasn’t much to hear (there wasn’t in most "zoo" displays, because the huge space lends itself best to static displays). However we got a look at Bryston’s new preamp-processor, which may be worth considering for a future review.
     We revisited Sensio, the company mentioned the other day, maker of 3-D DVDs (the entrance to the Sension Theatre is shown here). The demo, which included a preview of the upcoming Disney film Spy Kids: Game Over, showed a lot more sophistication than the one we saw last year. And there’s an exciting new twist (note that we don’t use the word "exciting" all that often): a device you add to your digital camcorder, allowing you to shoot in 3-D as well, and then burning your film to DVD in the Sensio format. Each time you do, you increase the Sensio film repertoire by one.
     Our intention was to leave the zoo and go back to the Alexis Park complex, and the CES audio exhibits, but guess what! We couldn’t park (see the Day One report for the almost incredible reason). So we headed to the San Remo and the rest of the exhibits at the T.H.E. Show.
     We’re often asked about the best room at the show. They don’t get much better than the Halcro room. It’s a big hall, featuring a Halcro preamplifier and the new dm38 stereo amp driving a pair of JMLab Nova Utopia speakers. We’ve always had reservations about the big Utopias, because they’re so large, and the bottom end has never been quite right, but with the Halcro amp upstream everything fell into place. The amplifier is expensive (US$18K), but you’re unlikely to feel you’ve wasted your money.
     We say this notwithstanding the review in Stereophile, proudly quoted on a Halcro banner, which is pure drivel. But the amp is great, no doubt about that.
     Next door was another Halcro demo, this time with various Halcro amps, both monoblocks and stereo amps, driving a variety of Wilson speakers. The new SACD of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, played in full surround, was an experience.
     Not far away was the Edge room. Last year that amplifier company had one of the best rooms at the show. It wasn’t quite true this time, but it earned an honorable mention, driving Epiphany speakers (tall, with many drivers, looking rather like one of the old Infinity speakers, but much nicer and especially mellower).
     Speakers don’t get much larger than those of Wisdom, which ally widerange ribbons with conventional woofers. The speaker at right is the Wisdom Infinite Rush, a $225K monster that comes in two parts. The three ribbons are in the leftmost cabinet, the four woofers in the rightmost. A set of various Wisdom speakers was used in a rather nice showing of Pirates of the Caribbean.
     Remember the VYGER turntable? You can see it in our Vegas report last year. this huge Italian floorstanding table uses an air bearing, a straight-line tone arm that also floats on air, and a vacuum system that holds the record down. The sound? Impressive in some ways (we listened to the original Cowboy Junkies album, The Trinity Sessions). The troublesome top end suggested that further setup might be in order. But of course when you own a turntable of this caliber (US$28K) you can’t be rushed. Yet, at a show you always are.
     Oh...one other detail. Why is it called VYGER? Is it some sort of Italian acronym? Well, no. If you saw the original Star Trek movie you’ll understand.
     Across the room was a pair of curved Austrian speakers called Alyon. Rather elegant and understated with their grilles on (see the photo), they look curious without. This is a two-way design. The midrange and top end are handled by a 20 cm speaker with whizzer cone much like the one common in full-range horns. The bass is reproduced by a separate 30 cm woofer. Interesting.
     The tube amplifiers, which you can possibly make out in our picture, are also from Alyon. They can use any output tube of the "300" family.
     We ran across Jacques Riendeau of Oracle for the first time since the Montreal show last March. He was showing several new products. The economy series of electronic,s that in March bore a new name, now sported the Oracle logo. There’s also a new series of gorgeously styled stainless steel units, including the P1000 power amplifier shown here. The new preamp-processor is a perfect match. Of course he was also showing his famous CD player and Delphi turntable.
     The evening would end with a party, but first with a most interesting event.
     Over at the large Von Schwieckert room, famed recording engineer Christopher Huston did a live vs recorded comparison, using the voices and instruments of the Misty River pop folk group. Huston had brought a DSD recording system and a small fortune in microphones to record the group as it sang live. We then heard the playback through VAC amplifiers and the huge and expensive ($100K) Von Schwieckert VR-11 speakers. We’ve heard this done unsuccessfully, but this worked quite well, with the system not adding the usual "hi-fi" exaggeration. There were some balance problems naturally, but everyone expressed pleasant surprise at how natural the system sounded.
     Later that evening, the four women of Misty River returned for a final concert.
     One more day to come. And it will be spent at Alexis Park. If we can park of course. And if we can talk the nice people at the press office into leaving the Wi-Fi wireless connection in place until we can upload our final report. See you tomorrow.

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